• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, April 2, 2013

The number of Americans who own smartphones and tablets rose substantially this year, while online radio listening and social networking also surged. Pandora looks to be a big beneficiary in the online radio space, while Facebook continues its dominance in social networking.

Online radio usage is growing substantially, with 45% of an estimated 120 million Americans saying they have listened to it in the last month in the survey, up from 39% in 2012. Online radio users listened for an average of nearly 12 hours a week.
 
Pandora appears to be a huge beneficiary, with 69% of Americans ages 12 and older (an estimated 182 million) who are “aware” of the service, up from 59% in 2012.
 
Meanwhile, iHeartRadio saw a huge leap, with 45% saying they are “aware” of that service, up from 31% last year. Spotify is at 22%.
 
More than half of Americans (53%) own a smartphone, up from 44% in 2012. Tablet ownership jumped to 29% from 17%. This year’s smartphone figure, which comes out to an estimated 139 million Americans, covers iPhones, Android and BlackBerry devices and Windows smartphones. Ownership numbers are at -- or close to -- 75% for demos covering 18- to-34-year-olds.
 
The data indicates that 83% of smartphone owners browse the Internet on the devices; 56% watch video and 21% scan QR codes at least some of the time.
 
Also, 47% of smartphone owners have downloaded the Pandora app, but just 15% have done so for iHeartRadio.
 
All the data comes from a joint Arbitron and Edison Research study, where more than 2,000 Americans ages 12 and older were interviewed over the phone from Jan. 15 to Feb. 10 of this year. Among the interviews, more than 700 were conducted via cell phones. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish, and the data was used to generate national projections.
 
Social networking data, by one metric, shows that 62% of Americans have a profile, up from 56% last year. Facebook is dominant, with 58% having a profile there. LinkedIn is second with 17%. Google+ (12%) trails MySpace (14%).
 
It's not just reach that is growing significantly, but usage. An estimated 71 million Americans check in with a social network “several times per day,” up from 58 million last year.
 
The percentage of homes with a WiFi setup rose in this year’s survey to 67%, up from 61% last year and 48% in 2010. Nearly 25% of people live in a home with five or more devices connected to WiFi access.
 
The research hints that 43% of Americans (about 113 million) watch online video in a given week. But one massive source may have seen growth stabilize, as data suggests that 37% watch YouTube in a given week -- the same percentage as in 2012.